Receptacle attachment for telephones



Feb. 18, 19 69 C. SEAWALL RECEPTACLE ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES FiledDec. 1. 1966 INV ENTOR. (55m 5154 WALL W i4 TTGPNEK United States Patent4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combined telephone instrument baseand cantilevered receptacle bracket, the latter having a hooked fingerextending into the recess beneath the cradle of the instrument andhooked therein, and a heel fulcrumed against a sloping back surface ofthe base.

Summary of invention A receptacle attachment for a telephone instrumentcomprising a receptacle such as an ash tray, combined wit-h a supportincluding a cantilever arm having on its end an upturned retainer fingeroperable, in response to fulcruming of the arm against a back shoulderof the instrument under the weight of the receptacle, to press upwardlyinto a recess beneath the hand-hold web of the instrument, and to lockin said recess so as to retain the arm and receptacle connected to theinstrument; said retainer finger also being engageable by the fingertips of a person reaching beneath the hand-hold web, and thereby movableforwardly to release the locking engagement.

The invention is particularly characterized in that the support bracketis shaped and proportioned so as to perrnit the users fingers to beinserted beneath the handhold web behind the retainer finger, to engagethe latter so as to push the bracket forwardly into the hand-hold recess beneath the web, and to engage the underside of the hand-hold webso that the instrument can be picked up and carried from place to placewith the bracket continuing to transmit support to the receptacle fromthe telephone instrument.

The prior art The patent to Harris No. 2,911,485 discloses an ash trayhaving an integral projecting forward end portion receivable in thehand-hold recess of a cradle telephone instrument with the trayfulcrumed against the base shoulder below the hand-hold web. Falk2,795,877 and Shore 2,488,516 disclose similar constructions in acalendar pad support and a telephone index respectively. Nelson designpatent Des. 162,060 discloses a generally similar construction in an ashtray support. Krug 2,558,259 also disclose supports having arms adaptedto be engaged in the hand-hold recess of a telephone instrument of thecradle type.

None of the above-mentioned patents disclose a support bracket having ahorizontal arm provided with a downwardly-rearwardly inclined heeladapted for rearward gravity-sliding against the near shoulder of acradle base so as to seek a position in which an upwardly projectingretainer finger is hooked against a lip beneath the rear margin of thehand-hold web. Clark 2,981,021 discloses a bracket am engaged in ahand-hold recess of a cradle phone base in a downwardly and rearwardlyinclined position, but does not disclose a tgravity-sliding action suchas to self-seek a rearward limit position. Also, the Clark patent failsto disclose a retainer finger of substantial height such that the usersfingers can be inserted between the bracket arm and the hand-hold Weband engaged against the finger to shift the bracket forwardly whileengaging the underside of the web to carry the instrument.

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Description An object of the invention is to provide a support bracketincluding an arm and an upwardly projecting finger of such proportionsand configuration as to enable the users fingers to be inserted into thehand-hold recess of a telephone instrument without removing the supportbracket therefrom, to shift the bracket forwardly by engagement with theretainer finger, and to directly engage the under side of the hand-holdweb while holding the bracket in the forwardly-shifted position, andsuch as to effect automatic gravity return of the bracket to a rearwardlimit position with the finger hooked against a rib on the underside ofthe hand-hold web when the fingers are withdrawn.

These and other objects will become apparent in the ensuingspecifications and appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view. of a support bracket embodying theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a cradle phone instrument with thebracket of my invention attached thereto, parts of the cradle base beingbroken away and shown in section;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the same with the bracketshifted forwardly by a users fingers engaging the underside of thehand-hold web to pick up the instrument; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of the bracket.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, I have shown in FIGS. 1-3thereof, as an example of one form of the invention, a support bracket Aconstructed from a length of ribbon material (which can be plastic ormetal strap) a cradle phone base B to which the bracket A is attached,and a receptacle (ash tray) C carried by the bracket A.

In accordance with conventional design, cradle base B embodies a dialpanel 10 at its forward end, a sloping shoulder 11 at its rear end, andan intermediate hand-hold recess 12 defined by a hand-hold web 13 spacedabove an apron 14 extending forwardly from the shoulder 11. The web 13has an integral downwardly projecting lip 15 extending transverselyalong the underside of its rearward mar-gin, to define in the undersideof the web 13 a shallow pocket to receive the fingers of a personlifting the instrument to move it from place to place. The inventionpreserves this function of the base unimpaired while bracket A continuesto be attached to the base in supported attachment thereto.

Bracket A comprises an attachment arm 20 and a receptacle support arm 21joined to arm 20 by a substantially vertical riser 22, in the generalform of a Z. At the forward end of attachment arm 20 is a straightupwardly projecting retainer finger 23 of sulficient height (e.g., sothat the fingers of a user can be inserted between the forward end ofarm 20 and the underside of hand-hold web 13 without shifting the finger23 downwardly out of contact with the underside of web 13, asillustrated in FIG. 3. Thus it is possible to lift the cradle base whilethe bracket A is supported by engagement of finger 23 beneath web 13 andby fulcruming of a heel 24 at the rear end of arm 20 against the cradlebase shoulder 11, without having the fingers pinched between the web 13and the arm 20.

Heel 24 is inclined downwardly and rearwardly at a substantial angle(e.g., between 30" and 45) and engages shoulder 11 where its slope issubstantial (e.g., in the range of 30) such that gravity will cause theheel 24 to slide against the shoulder 11 so as to elfect automaticself-seeking of the rear limit position shown in FIG. 2, wherein finger23 is hooked against lip 15 and thereby retained, the weight ofreceptacle C, attached to support arm 21, overbalancing arm 20 so as tocause the 3 finger 23 to press upwardly against the web 13 and thus beretained in the shallow pocket in its underside.

When the user wishes to move the phone instrument to a new location, heinserts his fingers into recess 12, engaging retainer finger 23 with thefinger tips and pushing it rearwardly until it abuts the vertical wall16 at the forward side of recess 12, as shown in FIG. 3. Thus thefingers are received in the recess 12 between web 13 and arm 20 withcomfortable clearance, and the finger tips can make direct supportingengagement with the underside of web 13, as shown. The bracket A isthereby tilted slightly upwardly and forwardly, the heel 24 slidingupwardly on shoulder 11. The receptacle C remains securely supported bythe continued engagement of finger 23 beneath web 13 and the abutment ofheel 24 against skirt 14.

When the phone is set down and the users fingers withdrawn, the bracketA will slide by gravity back to the position shown in FIG. 2, the finger23 being arrested by the lip 15.

FIG. 4 illustrates how the bracket can be fabricated from wire insteadof the strap material of FIG. 1. Support arm 121 may be a circularcollar adapted to receive the base of a receptacle. Riser 122 may be apair of spaced end portions of a length of wire bent to include a pairof spaced intermediate portions 120 terminating in upwardly bent forwardend portions 123 cooperatively constituting a retainer finger includinga bridge 25 integrally joining the portions 123 and providing the tip ofthe retainer finger which is engageable against the underside ofhand-hold web 13. Bends 124 between arm portions 120 and 122cooperatively constitute a heel for engagement with phone base shoulder11. A finger touchplate 26 is attached to finger portions 123 andbridges between them, for fingertip engagement in pushing the bracketinwardly as the finger tips are inserted into recess 12. The proportionsand configuration of parts 120, 122, 123, as seen in side elevation, arethe same as in bracket A of FIG. 1, and the operation is the same.

I claim:

1. In combination:

a cradle phone base having in its rear portion a skirt defining adownwardly and rearwardly inclined shoulder, a web spaced above saidshoulder to define a hand-hold recess, and a lip on the underside ofsaid web, spaced rearwardly from the forward wall thereof;

and a bracket including a forward attachment arm, a

retainer finger and a riser projecting upwardly from the forward andrear ends of said attachment arm respectively, a receptacle supportprojecting rearwardly from the upper end of said riser, and anintermediate downwardly and rearwardly inclined heel joining said riserto the rear portion of said support arm and fulcruming against saidinclined shoulder under the weight of said receptacle support and itsload, with said finger received in said recess and engaged upwardlyagainst the underside of said web under said fulcruming so as to balancesaid load, said finger having an area such as to provide a finger-tipengagement surface extending substantially the full height and width ofsaid recess, and a height sufiiciently less than the height of said lipabove said shoulder so that said finger may be freely entered into saidrecess, but sufficiently high to provide adequate space between saidattachment arm and said web for free insertion of the fingertips intosaid recess between said web and said attachment arm;

said finger being normally engaged against said lip in a normal positionin which said heel is in a rearward limit position, and being slidableforwardly in said recess in response to engagement by the fingertips.inserted into said recess, from said normal position to a positionadjacent the forward wall of said recess such as to accommodate fullsupporting engagement of the fingertips directly against theundersurface of said web for carrying the phone instrument while saidbracket and its load remain attached thereto, the space behind saidfinger and above said attachment arm being unobstructed so as to permitsaid free insertion of the fingertips into said recess for saidsupporting engagement.

2. The combination defined in claim 1, formed of plastic strap material.

3. The combination defined in claim 1, wherein said finger, attachmentarm and riser comprise respective laterally-spaced wire parts and saidfinger includes a finger touch plate bridging between and attached toits respective wire parts.

4. The combination defined in claim 1, wherein said fulcrumingengagement of said heel with said inclined shoulder is such as to causesaid bracket, under its load, to seek said rear limit position bydownward and rearward gravitational sliding of said heel on saidshoulder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,077,027 10/1913 Austin 2483 152,614,177 10/1952 Orms 179-146 2,658,116 11/1953 Skantze 179-1462,732,438 1/1956 Mansell et al. 179146 2,795,877 6/1957 Falk 403362,911,485 11/1959 Harris l79146 3,272,531 9/1966 Krauth 179-146 JOHNPETO, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 179-146

